Guatemala - Antigua, Flores, and Tikal - The People, The Places and the Things

May 19th, 2011

Western Conference Finals: Dallas Mavericks Vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

May 18th, 2011

My Trip to China and Tibet in Photographs

May 6th, 2011

Orphanage Santa Rosa de Lima Hogar de la Nina

May 3rd, 2011

Rural Guatemala - Cuilapa and Santa Rosa - People and Places

May 1st, 2011

Glens Falls Medical Mission: The People that Made it Great (Click picture for gallery).

On April 29th, I joined fifty-one volunteers on a medical mission trip to a small town in Guatemala. The group consisted of high school students, translators, organizers, nurses, physician assistants with students, and physicians with students including eleven people from the UT Health system. A group that began as a joint force of many different groups quickly became a unified team that provided healthcare to over twelve hundred Guatemalan people.

As a medical student volunteer, I served as a provider of healthcare in each of the different clinics we established: Women's Health, Pediatrics, General Medicine, Dentistry, Education, Eye Care, and Recall Clinic where we saw patients returning for follow-up visits. Dr. Andrew Ho, attending on medicine service, once told me that we should always strive to perform at one level above your current status. As a student, I did just that as I worked alongside the physicians in the clinic. Under the supervision of Dr. Oakes, Dr. Robinson, Dr. Takenaka, and Dr. Miller, I was empowered to see my own patients, decide on the most likely diagnosis, and treat both through education and medicine. However, the unique setting of a makeshift clinic, hundreds of people waiting after having walked miles to see you, and the limitation of having very few diagnostic tools and limited medications allowed me to learn how to help people in a different way. I was challenged to ask why do we need certain tests, and do those tests really alter our management? I was challenged to refocus my physical exam, in that situation the most important diagnostic tool I had. Most importantly, the language barrier forced me to pay more attention to the details of a conversing doctor and patient. The limited medications require that education and counseling be an essential form of medical therapy. The seemingly non-stop influx of new patients waiting to be seen tested my ability to triage the important physical findings and the ability to efficiently manage my time. These skills are absolutely necessary during the medical mission and even more beneficial to carry with me throughout my career.

Treating a completely different population also allowed me to treat pathology that I have not seen or rarely see in Houston Texas. Some of the most common findings included intestinal parasites in children, severe malnutrition and underdevelopment, and even two siblings with neurofibromatosis. The population, most without any means of transportation, very poor, and living in unsanitary conditions taught me many things about medicine but also about humanity and compassion. Over the course of our five days in clinic, I watched fifty two Americans and Canadians become one with the Guatemalan people. Their suffering was humbling, their appreciation for our care was inspiring, and our ability to help others was uplifting.

Such an experience in international medicine is a luxury that few medical students get to experience. It should be an opportunity that every one of my colleagues is able to experience. There is no better reminder for why we all decided to become doctors than to help the people who need it most and to know that at the end of the day, you made a difference.

Thank you for changing my life by allowing me to help others.
Sam Li, MS4 - Class of 2011

Carlye's Saltwater Aquarium, this is done with Tamron 180mm Macro lens allowing you to do 1:1 magnification which is the standard in the definition of a Macro Lens. To go even bigger, I used a Kenko Extension tube increasing the distance between the lens and the sensor allowing me to decrease my distance to shoot. I could thereby focus at a closer distance and achieving greater than 1:1 magnification. The problem with this technique is that light becomes a significant problem slowing down the lens by at least 2 F Stops.

February 24th, 2010

A Study of the Moon

Canon 7D w 100-400mm F5.6 lens plus a 2x Tamron Teleconverter. With the sensor size multiplier, this image was taken at 1280mm. Photo was then sharpened and contrasted in photoshop CS4.

January 31st, 2010

H Harloquin Dresses Photoshoot in the Galleria, click HERE to view the gallery

January 29th, 2010

Dwain Travis Ballet Photoshoot

Dwain is a ballet dancer who started when he was 9 and hasn't stopped since. He gave me this wonderful oppurtunity to shoot his passion of dance and we focused on the effects of lighting and shadows.

We then created dramatic lighting to highlight the specific features of the human body in a unque way that I have not seen too many people try yet. The many spotlights allow you to focus on parts of a whole before putting the rest of the body together in your imagination.

December 26th, 2009

Nature has its battles

Galveston Island. Had some crackers and threw them up in the air, two birds decided to go at it and I caught it with my 24-70mm F2.8. The cloudy weather helped diffuse the light perfectly. Used Sport Automatic setting and captured on multiple bursts.

The Red Pub Magazine, article is linked by clicking the following picture. An exerpt is copied here:

"Photographer Sam Li, whose works focus on far-away travel destinations
to places people dream of visiting, was the favorite for Mike Romero a
collector from Clear Lake. &ldquo;Sam’s work is astonishing. He shoots
places that you may have seen while on vacation, but he captures them
in such a way that makes you want to go back as often as you can, and
maybe even live there. I am definitely a fan.” Mr. Romero proved his
appreciation for Li’s work by purchasing three pieces, including,
Coliseum Lights, Hapsburg Castle, and Angelic Embrace."

May 16th, 2009

Attn: Matt and Angelo's upstairs

Here is the link to my World War 2 gallery:

Here is the link to my Famous Sites of Europe gallery:

Here is the link to my Black and White High Contrast Photography of Europe gallery:

Thank you for your consideration,

Sam Li

April 25th, 2009

Attention: Organizers of the Susan G Komen Charity Auction; and Sibyl Keller of The Houston Museum of Natural Science.

Please consider the following galleries:

Famous Sites of Europe, click on image to see the rest of the gallery:

Black and White High Contrast Photography of Europe, click on image to see rest of gallery:

The Inauguration of Barack Obama:

NBA coverage of the Houston Rockets can be found scrolling down the rest of this page as well as other galleries that you may find interesting.